FATAL
June 18th, 2007, 11:38 AM
The Call of Ktulu
Author: Rudy Jurjako
ktulu.wad (159 kb)
ftp://ftp.sunet.se/pub/pc/games/idgames/levels/doom2/Ports/j-l/ktulu.zip
Port: Boom & Vodoo Doll compatible.
Single player and cooperative.
August, 1998.
1 Map.
Reviewer: Danimetal using Zdoom v.2.0.96.
Score: 7.5
This is a wad worth remembering or discovering, make sure that´s clear before going on since that´s the Alpha and the Omega of this review!... If you have played any of the wad based on the Lovecraftian myths (I´ve done myself) you could think this is just one of them, but that´s far from true since the title is derived from a popular metal song (that, by the way, is played as background music) and has nothing to do with lost cities and sleeping monsters. The Call of Ktulu is more about a small adventure in wich you will be battling monsters, discovering secrets and thinking of ways to get through and, believe me, that´s quite a lot.
This adventure takes place in a marble castle with catacombs, caves and the narrow surroundings, each one of them drawn with amazing precision yet kept simple enough not to result baroque. The player will be spawn in the top of a hill from where he will battle his way to enter the castle directly in front of him (that´s where the first puzzle of the map resides and where Boom features are shown), deviating from his purpose in various times to finally make it, cross it and get out carried away by a blood river. In the middle, the player will be facing a nice amount of battles in both narrow and open spaces as well as some puzzles that can take some time to complete. In the top of that, the level never loses it´s momentum and playline: you´ll almost always know what to do next and surely you´ll have some idea of how and, in case you don´t know what´s next you´ll be surely shown only a way to go that happens to be the right on. There is an exception (a switch that is really well hidden to sight if you don´t look closely) but the pacing of the map makes for a fun and balanced experienced that is both challenging and entertanining.
One of the most remarkable aspects of this wad is on its design: without abusing backtracking, mazes or any similar time-consuming resources, it´s keep reasonably long. Though the main challenge may seem short and easy it always happens that when you think you´ve discovered the way, you´ll find that it takes longer than you thought and some twists are offered... You just keep going on and on and in the end you get a map with excellent connectivity and coherence. This design is supported by a solid architecture that is both functional and artistic: there´s little attention to detail (as we conceive it today) on this map but every room or passage looks real nice and believable. Architecture is also clean and accurate on the structural side of things and when it comes to texturing the author shows a palette of green marble and metal themes that are quite convincing without using more than a couple of custom textures.
Another aspect of the design is the Boom implementation. The map makes use of vodoo dolls to deliver impossible effects in the stock Doom engine, uses the Boom triggers wisely and also shows a nice amount of the deep water effect that adds great depth to it. Of course, the Boom engine can offer much more that what is seen on this map but I personally think that the author, without overdoing it, managed to get Boom features to work for the map. ... Some other tricks like the famous Ikka Keranen bridge (with railing and Requiem textures included) or nice sky effects are seen on some spots of the map adding shiny details to it. I really recommend mappers out there to play the wad and then take a look at it on the editor to see how Boom can manage certain things (like the consecutive monster teleportation) and also to judge the usage of Vodoo dolls and Boom triggers on this map. True is that these effects have become commonplace nowadays, but there are people out there that could make an exquisite use out of them.
Gameplay wise this wad is an achievement. The difficulty is balanced in the different levels (I played both UV and Hurt me Plenty) and player is kept with the exact amount of ammo and health needed, leading to intense fights. The choose of weapons is also interesting: there´s no trace of cell-powered weapons and shotguns match nicely with your enemies endurance and power. Some moments may be particularly tense, like the final fight, the tower or the tunnels in UV but most of the time the player is given a really fair chance to win. Battles are set through the map so there are both quiet and violent phases and the frequency (and hardness) of them grows until the final climax (which I had to finish running with my chainsaw!) where the map ends (don´t be fooled, it seems to end a couple of times)... The balance of different difficulty levels is also very welcomed. The high the skill levels are, the harder the monsters you´ll face and the more strategies you´ll have to develop on the fly to survive. There may be some cheap moments in UV (mainly one, I think... but you can bypass it) but in terms of gameplay this is a "Must play".
So, to sum up, this wad is quite worth. Maybe this review is not accurate enough to show it´s value, but the best way to check if the score given is true you just have to download and try it yourself... If you´ve already played it you won´t mind to remember it and if you´ve never, I´m sure you´ll like discovering it and will end up giving a similar score to the one I give: a 7.5. As said, worthness is the Alpha and the Omega here.
<a href="http://img508.imageshack.us/my.php?image=ktulu016ra.png" target="_blank"><img src=" http://img508.imageshack.us/img508/8669/ktulu016ra.th.png" border="0" alt="Free Image Hosting at www.ImageShack.us" /></a>
<a href="http://img508.imageshack.us/my.php?image=ktulu029hx.png" target="_blank"><img src=" http://img508.imageshack.us/img508/3559/ktulu029hx.th.png" border="0" alt="Free Image Hosting at www.ImageShack.us" /></a>
<a href="http://img508.imageshack.us/my.php?image=ktulu033pi.png" target="_blank"><img src=" http://img508.imageshack.us/img508/1472/ktulu033pi.th.png" border="0" alt="Free Image Hosting at www.ImageShack.us" /></a>
Monster fights can be key to survive in certain moments.
The views are simple but beautiful.
Creative use of the Arch-Vile to stock up on ammo!.
Author: Rudy Jurjako
ktulu.wad (159 kb)
ftp://ftp.sunet.se/pub/pc/games/idgames/levels/doom2/Ports/j-l/ktulu.zip
Port: Boom & Vodoo Doll compatible.
Single player and cooperative.
August, 1998.
1 Map.
Reviewer: Danimetal using Zdoom v.2.0.96.
Score: 7.5
This is a wad worth remembering or discovering, make sure that´s clear before going on since that´s the Alpha and the Omega of this review!... If you have played any of the wad based on the Lovecraftian myths (I´ve done myself) you could think this is just one of them, but that´s far from true since the title is derived from a popular metal song (that, by the way, is played as background music) and has nothing to do with lost cities and sleeping monsters. The Call of Ktulu is more about a small adventure in wich you will be battling monsters, discovering secrets and thinking of ways to get through and, believe me, that´s quite a lot.
This adventure takes place in a marble castle with catacombs, caves and the narrow surroundings, each one of them drawn with amazing precision yet kept simple enough not to result baroque. The player will be spawn in the top of a hill from where he will battle his way to enter the castle directly in front of him (that´s where the first puzzle of the map resides and where Boom features are shown), deviating from his purpose in various times to finally make it, cross it and get out carried away by a blood river. In the middle, the player will be facing a nice amount of battles in both narrow and open spaces as well as some puzzles that can take some time to complete. In the top of that, the level never loses it´s momentum and playline: you´ll almost always know what to do next and surely you´ll have some idea of how and, in case you don´t know what´s next you´ll be surely shown only a way to go that happens to be the right on. There is an exception (a switch that is really well hidden to sight if you don´t look closely) but the pacing of the map makes for a fun and balanced experienced that is both challenging and entertanining.
One of the most remarkable aspects of this wad is on its design: without abusing backtracking, mazes or any similar time-consuming resources, it´s keep reasonably long. Though the main challenge may seem short and easy it always happens that when you think you´ve discovered the way, you´ll find that it takes longer than you thought and some twists are offered... You just keep going on and on and in the end you get a map with excellent connectivity and coherence. This design is supported by a solid architecture that is both functional and artistic: there´s little attention to detail (as we conceive it today) on this map but every room or passage looks real nice and believable. Architecture is also clean and accurate on the structural side of things and when it comes to texturing the author shows a palette of green marble and metal themes that are quite convincing without using more than a couple of custom textures.
Another aspect of the design is the Boom implementation. The map makes use of vodoo dolls to deliver impossible effects in the stock Doom engine, uses the Boom triggers wisely and also shows a nice amount of the deep water effect that adds great depth to it. Of course, the Boom engine can offer much more that what is seen on this map but I personally think that the author, without overdoing it, managed to get Boom features to work for the map. ... Some other tricks like the famous Ikka Keranen bridge (with railing and Requiem textures included) or nice sky effects are seen on some spots of the map adding shiny details to it. I really recommend mappers out there to play the wad and then take a look at it on the editor to see how Boom can manage certain things (like the consecutive monster teleportation) and also to judge the usage of Vodoo dolls and Boom triggers on this map. True is that these effects have become commonplace nowadays, but there are people out there that could make an exquisite use out of them.
Gameplay wise this wad is an achievement. The difficulty is balanced in the different levels (I played both UV and Hurt me Plenty) and player is kept with the exact amount of ammo and health needed, leading to intense fights. The choose of weapons is also interesting: there´s no trace of cell-powered weapons and shotguns match nicely with your enemies endurance and power. Some moments may be particularly tense, like the final fight, the tower or the tunnels in UV but most of the time the player is given a really fair chance to win. Battles are set through the map so there are both quiet and violent phases and the frequency (and hardness) of them grows until the final climax (which I had to finish running with my chainsaw!) where the map ends (don´t be fooled, it seems to end a couple of times)... The balance of different difficulty levels is also very welcomed. The high the skill levels are, the harder the monsters you´ll face and the more strategies you´ll have to develop on the fly to survive. There may be some cheap moments in UV (mainly one, I think... but you can bypass it) but in terms of gameplay this is a "Must play".
So, to sum up, this wad is quite worth. Maybe this review is not accurate enough to show it´s value, but the best way to check if the score given is true you just have to download and try it yourself... If you´ve already played it you won´t mind to remember it and if you´ve never, I´m sure you´ll like discovering it and will end up giving a similar score to the one I give: a 7.5. As said, worthness is the Alpha and the Omega here.
<a href="http://img508.imageshack.us/my.php?image=ktulu016ra.png" target="_blank"><img src=" http://img508.imageshack.us/img508/8669/ktulu016ra.th.png" border="0" alt="Free Image Hosting at www.ImageShack.us" /></a>
<a href="http://img508.imageshack.us/my.php?image=ktulu029hx.png" target="_blank"><img src=" http://img508.imageshack.us/img508/3559/ktulu029hx.th.png" border="0" alt="Free Image Hosting at www.ImageShack.us" /></a>
<a href="http://img508.imageshack.us/my.php?image=ktulu033pi.png" target="_blank"><img src=" http://img508.imageshack.us/img508/1472/ktulu033pi.th.png" border="0" alt="Free Image Hosting at www.ImageShack.us" /></a>
Monster fights can be key to survive in certain moments.
The views are simple but beautiful.
Creative use of the Arch-Vile to stock up on ammo!.